Deep, shimmering ruby. Ripe dark berries, mocha and candied licorice on the fragrant nose. Plush and broad in the mouth, offering appealingly sweet mulberry, cherry cola and fruitcake flavors that take a spicy turn as the wine opens up. Deftly plays richness off energy and finishes long and smooth, with the cherry note echoing strongly.

The Custodian has always been big boned for a Grenache, but perhaps due in part to the relatively cool 2017 vintage, this bottling offers freshness and poise. It opens with aromas of cherry and mocha, underscored by spice and floral tones. There's a lovely crunch to the red berry fruit in the mouth. The tannins creep up slowly and then are raspy and a bit austere. The fruit wears them well, though, making this an appealing barbecue wine.

A ripe, full-bodied effort, d'Arenberg's 2017 The Custodian Grenache features notes of crushed stone layered over Italian plums and dark chocolate. The tannins are supple, there's ample concentration and the gently dusty finish picks up alluring hints of licorice. It's not the perfumed, less-extracted style that's in vogue at the moment, but it delivers what consumers have come to expect from this label.